Sovereignty of the Living Individual: Emerson and James on Politics and Religion
Journal Title: Religions - Year 2017, Vol 8, Issue 9
Abstract
William James and Ralph Waldo Emerson are both committed individualists. However, in what do their individualisms consist and to what degree do they resemble each other? This essay demonstrates that James’s individualism is strikingly similar to Emerson’s. By taking James’s own understanding of Emerson’s philosophy as a touchstone, I argue that both see individualism to consist principally in self-reliance, receptivity, and vocation. Putting these two figures’ understandings of individualism in comparison illuminates under-appreciated aspects of each figure, for example, the political implications of their individualism, the way that their religious individuality is politically engaged, and the importance of exemplarity to the politics and ethics of both of them.
Authors and Affiliations
Stephen S. Bush
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP25757
- DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/rel8090164
- Views 349
- Downloads 9
Spiritual Distress in Bereavement: Evolution of a Research Program
Many mourners turn to their spiritual beliefs and traditions when confronted by the death of a loved one. However, prior studies have either focused primarily on the benefits of faith following loss or studied spiritua...
Creating Modern Japanese Subjects: Morning Rituals from Norito to News and Weather
This original research on Restoration Shinto Norito seeks to explain the rhetorical devices used in the composition of a morning prayer ritual text. The nativist scholar, Hirata Atsutane, crafted this ritual to create...
Misión Integral and Progressive Evangelicalism: The Latin American Influence on the North American Emerging Church
Though commonly identified with the conservative politics of the Christian Right, over the past decade evangelicals in the United States have increasingly embraced a more politically progressive range of social concern...
Presenting a 4-Item Spiritual Well-Being Index (4-ISWBI)
Spiritual well-being is perceived to be reflected in the quality of relationships that people have in four areas, namely with God, others, nature, and self. Many spiritual well-being questionnaires exist, but not many...
Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche: Dzogchen and Tibetan Tradition. From Shang Shung to the West
In July 2011 the International Dzogchen Community celebrated its 30th Anniversary. In 1981, near Arcidosso in Tuscany (Italy), Master Chögyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche founded the first community or Gar of the Internation...